An American journalist will reportedly be released by an Iranian-backed militia a week after she was kidnapped in Baghdad — on the condition that she leaves Iraq immediately.
The release of Shelly Kittleson, 49, from Monticello, Wisconsin, was seemingly confirmed in a post on the encrypted social messaging app Telegram by Abu Mujahid Aasaf, the security chief of Hezbollah Brigades.
“Security official Abu Mujahid al-Asaf, in the name of God, the Most High, and in appreciation of the patriotic stances of the outgoing Prime Minister, has decided to release the American defendant, Shelley Kittleson, on the condition that she leaves the country immediately,” Aasaf said in a translation of an Arabic post on Telegram.
“This initiative will not be repeated in the future; we are in a state of war waged by the Zionist-American enemy against Islam, and in such situations, many considerations are disregarded,” the post continued.
Hezbollah Brigades also said it plans shortly to release a video “illustrating the role of [Kittleson] and her activities in Iraq,” in a subsequent Telegram post.
